Pituitary Story: Surgery Delayed Years by COVID, Staffing Shortages

A Canadian woman, diagnosed with a prolactinoma two years ago, is still waiting for surgery, which has been delayed by COVID and by a shortage of workers in the medical field. Read more: 

Researchers Study Biomarkers to Assess Invasiveness of Pituitary Tumors

A study in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, done by researchers in China, find that certain biomarkers in the blood may shed light on the invasiveness of a pituitary tumor. In the future, this may help endocrinologists make an earlier diagnosis. Read more:

TV Series Features 22-Year-Old Pituitary Patient With The Body of a Child

A series on TLC debuting in January called “I am Shauna Rae” follows the life of a 22-year-old woman from Pittsburg, PA who is 3’10” and resembles an 8-year-old child. She battled cancer as an infant and chemotherapy caused her pituitary gland to go dormant. Read more:

Pituitary Patient Undergoes Transsphenoidal, then Transcranial Surgery

A story in the Times of India tells the story of a woman from Jaipur who underwent transcranial surgery to remove a recurring pituitary tumor. She had previously had transsphenoidal surgery to remove her first pituitary tumor. Read more:

Excessive Thirst Leads to Diagnosis of Pituitary Tumor

An article in the New Zealand Herald tells the story of an Australian mother of two who was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor after she developed an insatiable thirst. Read more: 

Pituitary Story: Don’t Ignore the Symptoms

Paris Dancy’s latest columns in Cushing’s Disease News warn patients about the Cushing’s symptoms that he ignored prior to his diagnosis, and look forward to a healthier new year  Read more here:  and Here

British Comedy Series Features a Pituitary Tumor Nicknamed “Britney”

A new BBC comedy tv series called “Britney” tells the story of a young woman’s battle with a prolactinoma. Actress and writer Charly Clive and her co-writer Ellen Robertson play versions of themselves as Charly contends with a pituitary tumor she nicknames “Britney”. The production started as a hit stage show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has now been turned into a buddy comedy TV show. Read more:

Caption:Charly Clive as Charly and Ellen Robertson as Ellen Picture: PA Photo/Drama Republic Ltd/Anika Molnar

Pituitary Story: British Bake Off Star Sue Perkins

British TV host Sue Perkins recounts her pituitary battle for an article on the website Brinkwire. Read more:

Caption: TV host Sue Perkins (Ureggoluis/Wikimedia Commons)

Pituitary story: British Tenor Russell Watson

Celebrity tenor Russell Watson recently recounted his fight against two pituitary tumors, and a near-death experience they caused, on a tv show called, “I’m a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here.” Read more:

Caption: Singer Russell Watson (Pfrenchm/Flying Tigers Studio/Wikimedia Commons)

Hormone-producing Intestinal Tumor Linked to Cushing’s

A research article in the journal Case Reports in Oncology looks at the case of a 50-year-old man who had no pituitary tumor but very high cortisol levels that turned out the coming from a hormone-producing intestinal tumor. Read more: 

Study: Tumor Subtype Does Not Predict Remission in Acromegaly

A study from Iran looked at remission rates in acromegaly patients with three subtypes of pituitary adenomas (densely granulated, sparsely granulated and dual staining) and found no major predictive role in terms of remission. There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of remission between the single-staining group and the dual-staining group. But the densely granulated group had a 2-fold remission rate compared to the other groups. Read more:

Case Study: Depression Abates after Cushing’s Surgery

An article in Cushing’s Disease News looks at the case of a suicidal woman in Saudi Arabia whose depression eased but did not go away after treatment for Cushing’s. Read more:

Study: Low-income Prolactinoma Patients Suffer Worse Health Outcomes

The abstract of a study from the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, which was reprinted in DocWireNews.com compares outcomes for prolactinoma patients with varying ages, sex, race and insurance status. They concluded that patients in the bottom 25%, income-wise, had statistically significantly poorer outcomes compared to wealthier patients. Patients who are female or who received a diagnosis at a later stage also suffered poorer outcomes. Read more here:

Pituitary Story: Massive Post-Surgical Bleeding Causes Panic

A blog from pituitary patient and author John Pavlovitz tells the story of a terrifying post-surgical seemingly near-death experience, where he almost bled out after somehow dislodging the clots formed at the surgical site in his brain. Read more here

Pituitary Tumors

Clinical Relevance of New World Health Organization Classification System for Pituitary Adenomas: A Validation Study With 2-Year Experience.

Solid tumor size for prediction of recurrence in large and giant non-functioning pituitary adenomas.

Cardiovascular risk profile in Growth Hormone treated adults with a craniopharyngioma compared to a non-functioning pituitary adenoma: a national cohort study.

Editor’s note: Dr. Van de Lely is a longtime member of the PNA.

Management of Coincident Pituitary Macroadenoma and Cavernous Carotid Aneurysm: A Systematic Literature Review.

Consistency of pituitary adenomas: Amounts of collagen types I and III and the predictive value of T2WI MRI.

Primary Tumors of the Pituitary Gland: Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation.

Pituitary Surgery

Pituitary surgery as alternative to dopamine agonists treatment for microprolactinomas, a cohort study.

Visual deterioration after endonasal endoscopic skull base surgery: causes, treatments, and outcomes.

Editor’s note: Dr. Schwartz is a longtime member of the PNA.

Transnasal transsphenoidal pituitary surgery in a large tertiary hospital, a retrospective study.Transnasal transsphenoidal pituitary surgery in a large tertiary hospital, a retrospective study.

Hypopituitarism

Growth hormone deficiency in adults with hypopituitarism-What are the risks and can they be eliminated by therapy?

Cushing’s Disease

A Case of Cushing’s Disease Presenting with Isolated Suicidal Attempt.

Growth Hormone Deficiency

The necessity of magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of pediatric growth hormone deficiency: Lessons from a large academic center.

Stanford Neurosurgeon Removes Tricky Pituitary Tumor

In August, Stanford University neurosurgeon Dr. Juan Fernandez-Miranda was able to help a young man from Lebanon named Ali Daoud. The surgeon removed a tumor that had recurred despite two surgeries in Beirut. The tumor was hiding in the cavernous sinus, an area that Dr. Fernandez-Miranda has studied for many years. Read more:

Photo caption:
Dr. Juan Fernandez-Miranda and patient Ali Daoud. Photo courtesy of the Daoud family.

Pituitary Story: Dealing With the Trauma of a Pituitary Tumor

Pituitary patient Paris Dancy recounts the emotional trauma he suffered before and after his diagnosis with a pituitary tumor. It’s part of his “Surviving and Thriving” column for Cushing’s Disease News. Read more here:

Researchers Look at the Role of Gene Splicing in Hyperthyroidism

A blog from the University of Michigan looks into the work of geneticists there – who are investigating gene splicing defects and their possible role in hormone deficiencies and hypothyroidism. Read more:

Longtime PNA Member Dr. Shlomo Melmed Wins Transatlantic Alliance Award

The PNA would like to congratulate longtime member Dr. Shlomo Melmed, on winning the first-ever Transatlantic Alliance Award. The award is the first time the Endocrine Society and the European Society of Endocrinology have collaborated to honor a worldwide leader in the field. Dr. Melmed is executive vice president of Academic Affairs, dean of the Medical Faculty and distinguished professor of medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Dr. Melmed will be a featured speaker at the European Congress of Endocrinology in May 2022 in Milan. He will also speak at ENDO 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia in June.

Pituitary Story: Life after Pituitary Hemorrhage

A story on Braintumorcharity.org tells the story of 42-year-old Jo Hutchinson from the U.K., who suffered a hemorrhage of a tumor on her pituitary at age 16. She had most of her pituitary gland surgically removed, which led to a series of ongoing challenges. Read more:

Pituitary Tumors

Double adenomas of the pituitary reveal distinct lineage markers, copy number alterations, and epigenetic profiles.

Pituitary Surgery

Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal Approach for the Surgical Treatment of Pituitary Apoplexy and Clinical Outcomes.

The Use of Micro Retractor in Endoscopic Endonasal Posterior Pseudocapsule Resection of Pituitary Macroadenoma. Technical Note.

The difference between preoperative and postoperative pituitary stalk deviation angles can predict delayed hyponatremia after transsphenoidal surgery.

Safety of endoscopic endonasal biopsy for the pituitary stalk-hypothalamic lesions.

Acromegaly

Treatment of acromegaly by rosiglitazone via upregulating 15-PGDH in both pituitary adenoma and liver.

Cushing’s Disease

Presurgical predictive factors of surgical remission in Cushing’s disease. Study of 32 cases.

Diagnostic pitfalls in Cushing’s disease impacting surgical remission rates; test thresholds and lessons learned in 105 patients.

Editor’s Note: Drs Barkhoudarian, Cohan and Kelly are members of the PNA.

Cushing’s syndrome due to adrenocorticotropic hormone-secreting metastatic neuroendocrine tumor of unknown primary origin: a case report and literature review.

Pasireotide-resistant Refractory Cushing’s Disease Without Somatostatin Receptor 5 Expression: A Case Report.

COVID and Pituitary Disease

Thyroid function in COVID-19 and the association to cytokine levels and mortality.

Panhypopituitarism

Management of panhypopituitarism during pregnancy: A case report.

Pediatric Pituitary Disease

Noncontrast MRI Protocol for Selected Pediatric Pituitary Endocrinopathies: A Procedure with High Diagnostic Yield and Potential to Reduce Anesthesia and Gadolinium-Based Contrast Exposure.

Removing tumor from a tricky part of brain, surgeon gives teen his life back.

After years of practicing surgery techniques in a part of the brain known as a “no man’s land,” Dr. Juan Fernandez-Miranda was able to remove a complex pituitary gland tumor from a Lebanese teenager, Ali.  Read more here:

Acromegalic Igor Vovkovinskiy, America’s Tallest Man, Passes Away

The PNA would like to express our sincere condolences to the family of Igor Vovkovinskiy, an acromegalic who gained fame as America’s tallest man. Vovkovinskiy passed away on August 20th in Minnesota from heart failure at age 38. He stood 7 feet, 8.33 inches tall. He immigrated to Rochester, Minnesota from Ukraine in 1989 to receive medical treatment.  Read more here or here.

Iranian Acromegalic Competes as Paralympian

Iranian acromegalic Morteza Mehrzad, who stands more than 8 feet tall, competed with his country’s men’s sitting volleyball team at the Paralympics in Tokyo this year.   Read more here:

Study: Vitamin D improves IGF-1 in Adults

A study in the European Journal of Endocrinology found that 5000-7000IU of vitamin D per week improved IGF-1 levels in adults and concludes that it may help in the treatment of Growth Hormone Deficiency. Read more here:

Pediatric GH Patients to Get New Treatment Option

The FDA has approved the first once-a-week somatropin injection for children with Growth Hormone Deficiency called Lonapegsomatropin-tcgd injection (Skytrofa, Ascendis) . Read more here:

Study: MRI May Not Detect 1/3rd of Pediatric Cushing’s Cases

A study published in the journal Clinical Endocrinology finds that up to one-third of pediatric and adolescent patients with Cushing’s Disease do not have their tumors visualized on MRI. It also found that in those cases, the patients had a lower odds of remission. In cases of remission, however, rates of recurrence were not affected. Read more here: or Here.

COVID and Pituitary Disease

An article in news-medical.net looks at a study published in Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders that posits a bi-directional relationship between COVID-19 and pituitary disease.  Read more here:

Alternative Medicine and Low-T

A patient tells the story of his battle with Cushing’s disease and low testosterone. He found solace in alternative medicine after struggling with testosterone replacement therapy. Read more:

Pituitary Story: A Personal Trainer Fights a Prolactinoma

A story in the Royal Gazette tells the story of a personal trainer from Bermuda who flew to Mass General in Boston for surgery to treat a prolactinoma. Read more:

PA Legislature Considers Bill to Give Doctors More Autonomy; Pituitary Patients May Benefit

The Pennsylvania legislature is considering a bill to stop insurance companies from requiring patients to try certain less expensive treatments before getting the one that their doctor recommends. One frustrated doctor said one of her patients was forced to see five doctors before being allowed to get surgery for a pituitary tumor. Read more:

Study Encourages Better Communication Between Cushing’s Patients and Doctors.

A study in the Journal of the Endocrine Society finds that almost a third of Cushing’s patients surveyed felt they did not get enough information from their doctors and felt unprepared for the recovery process post-surgery. Read more: 

Two Egyptian Siblings with Acromegaly Break Guinness World Records

A brother and sister from Egypt who suffer from acromegaly have broken multiple Guinness World records for the widest arm span and largest feet in a living person. Read more: 

Caption: Guinness World Records Arabia

Complication avoidance protocols in endoscopic pituitary adenoma surgery: a retrospective cohort study in 514 patients.

Read more:

Editor’s note: Drs. Griffiths, Krauss, Barkhoudarian and Kelly are members of the PNA.

Study Links COVID-19 to New Pituitary Dysfunction

An article in the Times of India looks at an observational study done at PGIMER that found hypothyroidism, thyroiditis, low cortisol and testosterone were more common in patients with severe COVID-19. Read more:

COVID-19 Vaccine NOT linked to Menstual Dysfunction

An expert from the Cleveland Clinic says that while some women have noticed irregular periods after getting the COVID-19 vaccine, there is no evidence that it is caused by the vaccine and instead has been attributed to stress. Read more:

Teen Develops Rare Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis After Pituitary Surgery

An article in Cushing’s Disease News highlights the case of a teenage girl in Malaysia who developed cavernous sinus thrombosis after multiple surgeries to remove recurring pituitary tumors as part of a long battle with Cushing’s Disease.  Read more: 

Pituitary Story: A Diagnosis of Cushing’s After Years of Symptoms

In an article in the magazine Prevention, Cushing’s patient Mary Machica recounts her four-year struggle to find a diagnosis before undergoing surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. Read more:

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